FatWallet.com grows as shoppers pull back

Tuesday

Nov 25, 2008 at 12:01 AMNov 25, 2008 at 11:59 PM

People may be shopping less this holiday season, but they’re visiting FatWallet.com more. The Rockton-based online shopping portal has grown in every measure — more unique visitors, more members, more employees and more office space.

Thomas V. Bona

People may be shopping less this holiday season, but they’re visiting FatWallet.com more.

The Rockton-based online shopping portal has grown in every measure — more unique visitors, more members, more employees and more office space.

It’s even offering more ways shoppers can find out about the deals it posts. This year, it started sending out RSS feeds and Twitter updates, and it recently unveiled a new application that sends Black Friday deals to members’ iPhones.

“Our site wouldn’t be here if it wasn’t for the consumers (who) have been so loyal,” marketing manager Laura Pagles said. “It’s important for us to take care of them. We need to keep providing them products, but roll them out efficiently and roll out a quality product.”

Every day, about 200,000 unique visitors come to the site, 16 percent more than this time last year. They find information on published and unpublished sales from hundreds of retailers and, in many cases, collect “cashback” awards for buying from affiliated merchants.

They also discuss deals, retailers and products on the site’s forums. The site recently got its millionth registered member.

That community is one of the key reasons the site has grown while many retailers struggle, Pagles said.

“I think people are turning to each other for information about deals, whether it really is a deal, and the products themselves,” she said. “With the unease in buying right now, it’s comforting to have other shoppers talking about it with you. ”

At the end of last year, FatWallet.com moved into a 30,000-square-foot office on the site of the old Wagon Wheel Resort. There’s room for at least 100 employees, and the company added a few to reach 46 this year. New hires include a director of invention, helping the site stay relevant in a fast-changing time.

FatWallet.com is also finding more cooperation from retailers, who want to target active online shopping communities.

“If you have people out there looking for your products and your deals specifically, I would say, ‘Put something in their hands,’” Pagles said.

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